


Meet Me in the Woods

by Toothlesshoodie



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie is air, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, bev is fire, elements AU, mike is earth, richie is water, some slow burn, stuff like that, the other three are suckers in love, theres also voices of their element in their head, youll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23268307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toothlesshoodie/pseuds/Toothlesshoodie
Summary: In Derry, Maine, most people don’t know about the four spirits that reside there. Of course, everyone has heard of the four elements; Air, Fire, Earth and Water, but they had no idea about the identities behind their abilities.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Meet Me in the Woods

In Derry, Maine, most people don’t know about the four spirits that reside there. Of course, everyone has heard of the four elements, Air, Fire, Earth and Water, but they had no idea about the identities behind their abilities. For centuries, the spirits passed between different entities, more often than not, humans. The problem was that almost everybody they passed through had the intention of using their abilities for their own selfish desires. The spirits eventually decided to retire in their own individual humans, starting as infants, and act as the little voice in their head as they grew up to insure that they would be their ideal spirit wielder. 

The oldest of these spirits is Air. Air is a spirit that craved freedom, the one that touched the sky and, unlike the others, couldn’t be tied down and controlled. The spirit had hope to find someone like themselves, faster than fear and stronger than any danger. Air knew they had no success in finding somebody like this in grown people, but they believed they could mold the young child into what they need. What the world needs. 

The second oldest is earth. Earth is nothing like Air, a polar opposite some would say. Earth was a content spirit, never reaching for what they can’t have because they already had it all. They, like Air, could never find somebody like this, it’s impossible to find a human without desires. Still, Earth was sure that they could teach their human to settle with their ability. Show them that they didn’t need to explore the world, instead they could make it. It’s wishful thinking and Earth would stick to it. 

The third and second youngest of these spirits is Water. Such a beautiful yet powerful spirit, Water is definitely one of the most respected spirits out of them all but also the most fun. Water has a playful personality that, surprisingly, complimented their mighty ability well. Water wanted that in their human; fun and free but not afraid to do what’s right, even if it means sacrifice. Though the spirit was a lively one, there was no room for love in their existence.

The final and youngest spirit is Fire. Fierce was the only word anyone who looked at the ability of the spirit could use to describe it. They’re unbelievably powerful, even more dangerous than any other spirit and the most destructive. Fire is fearless, like Air, and never stepped down from a fight. Though Water has tamed them in the past, they always came back with more force than before. Fire knew early on that whoever they picked would have to be strong and won’t be pushed down- ever- even if Fire had to teach them. 

… 

As a child, Eddie always knew something was different. Most people can’t use the wind to help them run faster or hold them in the air while they read a book... or use the air at all. Eddie first learned that when his dad walked into his room when he was 4 and having a windy day in his room so his cape would flap up and down while he played. His dad, Frank, much calmer than anyone should have been, sat Eddie down and asked him about what he was doing. Eddie, convinced he was now in trouble, just ducked his head and told him that he was just playing and somehow willed it to happen. Frank smiled, called him his little bird, and had Eddie agree that he wouldn’t do it in public. Eddie reluctantly agreed but Frank promised that he would take Eddie out into the forest and they could play with it there.

For a few years, they did. Until one day Frank didn’t come home and the wind howled harder than anyone had ever seen that night.

The other side of all of this was Eddie’s mom, Sonia. She was blissfully unaware of her son’s unique ability his whole life since Frank urged Eddie to keep it away from her considering she might not understand the same way Frank did. Eddie didn’t realize why until he heard a voice in his head. 

At ten years old, Eddie had surprisingly kept his secret from his mother pretty well. It wasn’t exactly hard to hide, it could be chalked up to the air conditioner being too high or a window being left open. What almost gave him away was a voice.

Eddie was looking out the window one night and saw his neighbors had a fire going in their backyard. He watched it with a smile, missing the days when him and his dad would do outdoor things together. His smile faded when he saw everyone go inside, leaving the fire to rise in height and nip at the leaves above it. 

“Blow it out,” a voice said in his head. Eddie almost fell back from how sudden it was and how close it sounded. 

“Hello!?” Eddie called out and frantically looked around his room, but he saw nobody and nothing even capable of making noise. 

_ “Quick,” _ the voice snapped,  _ “that could spread in no time.” _

Eddie’s eyes filled with confused tears, unable to understand what’s going on and afraid of something he didn’t know.

_ “Edward! You have to stop it! A quick puff could take it out in a mere second!” _

Then he couldn’t handle it anymore. 

“Mom!!” He screamed out, “mom help me!!”

In no time at all, Sonia was barreling into the room, wild eyes searching frantically for her son and almost fainting at the sight of him sitting by an open window, sobbing his eyes out.

“Edward! Have you lost your mind!? What are you doing by an open window!?”

Eddie could barely see his mother through his tears. “I-“ he hiccuped, “I heard a voice! In my head!”

There was not a collection of words that could’ve scared Sonia more than those. In less than an hour, Eddie was laying in a hospital bed trying not to cry and listening to his mom scream outside his door. Somehow, everyone had ignored the hard push of wind in the hospital as the doctor explained that Eddie probably just heard a voice from the outside, as he seems physically and mentally healthy. 

Eddie heard it again while he slept in that uncomfortable bed in a sadly familiar white room. Eddie trembled when he heard it, but something made it a little less scary than before, and a little more welcoming. 

_ “You don’t need to be afraid of me, Edward, your father wasn’t.” _

And for a young Eddie Kaspbak, a few years without his father or the freedom to use his abilities, that was enough. 

…

Beverly heard her voice many years sooner than Eddie did. Beverly, like Eddie, had a parent who saw their ability and loved it as a part of them. At the time, Beverly and her parents lived in a small house a little further away from Derry but in Derry nonetheless. It was easy to hide Beverly’s more dangerous ability when there was nobody around to see it. As a baby, her crib caught fire more often than could ever be considered normal. The funny thing was that Beverly never got burned once. 

Through too much trial and error and excessive lies to Beverly’s father, Alvin, Beverly lived comfortably with her mother, occasionally her father, and her flame. 

Unfortunately, it couldn’t last. Beverly’s mother had been deathly ill for a good year in her life and didn’t survive. In her grief, Beverly, now four years old, set their house on fire without realizing she was letting her power escape her. When sheher and her father escaped, he slapped her and blamed her even though he didn’t have evidence and the firefighters couldn’t find a clear cause for the fire. But Beverly took it to heart. He was right. Now Beverly had nothing left of her mother and she took the blame upon herself. 

Alvin moved them fully into the town. Kept them cooped up in a tiny, rundown apartment and let his love for Beverly slip with every sip of beer and drag of a cigarette he took.

One night, Beverly, seven years old, watched herself in her bathroom mirror. A fresh bruise was spreading across her cheek and she knew she’d have to cover it up before she went back to school tomorrow. She watched herself and felt tears slowly leak from her eyes. Thoughts of how she despised her appearance, her uncanny resemblance to her mother and how it’s a curse filled her mind. She felt nothing but hatred for it. 

_ “Don’t do that,” _ a voice lightly scolded. Beverly leaped backward and frantically looked around 

With as much bravery as a seven-year-old can muster, she called out, “who’s there? Show yourself!” 

The voice let out a quiet,  _ “tsk tsk,” _ and Beverly slowly started to realize it wasn’t a voice coming from someone in the apartment. 

_ “Shh, you don’t need to fear me.” _

Beverly trembled but couldn’t help but feel comforted by the gentle tone. “Who are you?”

The voice shushed her again,  _ “never mind that. All you need to know is that I’m here for you, Beverly. I love you.” _

Hearing that, even at seven and not truly understanding the power behind those three words, caused Beverly to collapse and sob. She had been denied love for so long. A caring voice to tell her everything will be okay. That she was loved. 

_ “And don’t say those things about yourself,” _ the voice scolded again, but gently. _ “One of the things I love the most about you is your flame.” _

…

Mike has...the perfect life for his ability. It’s unbelievably easy for him to hide it, he didn’t even know about it until he was six-years-old. Ever since he was born, the farm had been doing more amazing in their farming than ever. The soil was always perfect, everything grew at its best and there was rarely a spoiled harvest. It was amazing and unlike anything any farmer had ever seen. 

When Mike did discover his ability, he was playing outside alone one day. He loved to be outside, to discover new things everyday. Though he was generally allowed to run around wherever he wanted, he still felt there was more to find. His father warned him of a high cliff above a quarry and that it was too dangerous to go alone. For a long time, Mike held onto that rule but the dullness of that day was just too much to bear for a six-year-boy who craved adventure. 

It didn’t take long for his imagination to run wild and rationalize his decision to run off. In his mind, he imagined he wouldn’t get too close and he would come back before his dad noticed he was gone. There’s no way his dad just expected him to sit there and be bored all day! So he ran off, pushing tall grass away without touching it and giggling at how it tickled rather than lightly cutting his arms like it would to someone else. 

Eventually, the soft dirt under his feet turned into hard stone, letting him know he was mere seconds away from seeing the quarry he had only started thinking about ten minutes earlier. One shove at a branch and suddenly he was greeted with one of the most breathtaking sights he’d ever seen in his life- not that he was really old enough to cherish it.

The quarry was huge, almost like a canyon in Mike’s mind. He thought the drop below  _ had  _ to be at least 200ft. 

It didn’t take long for Mike to decide that getting a closer look couldn’t hurt in the slightest. It was in his best interest! Nobody in the whole wide world could just see the quarry and not get closer. So he did. 

He inched closer. Then closer. Ever so slightly closer. Okay, a little closer. Maybe a lot closer. So, maybe too close.

What didn’t occur to Mike was that he had hit the natural edge of the quarry a few inches back. The ground beneath him just grew with every step he took. He didn’t take notice and he didn’t look back. 

_ “Michael,” _ a voice suddenly stopped him.

Mike stopped, but didn’t bother to look around to find the voice. He just kept walking but at a slower pace.

_ “Michael,” _ the voice said yet again.

“Yes?” Mike squeaked out, keeping his eyes ahead.

_ “What are you doing?”  _ The voice asked.

Mike shrugged, assuming whoever was there could see him. “I wan’ see the quarry my daddy always talks about!”

The voice hummed,  _ “but didn’t he say to stay away?” _

Mike paused, then he sat down and thought about it. “But I was bored!”

The voice chuckled.  _ “Michael, it’s time to turn back. You know the way very well.” _

Mike huffed as he got up and turned around. What he saw made him almost fall right back over. It was a large strip of stone, perfectly matched to Mike’s small width and as long as he had walked.

“What happened!?” Mike gasped out, his shock was quickly replaced with wonder. 

_ “You made it, Michael,” _ it explained gently. 

“Oh,” Mike sniffed, “can I get rid of it? I don’t wan’ my daddy knowing I was here.” 

The voice chuckled again and it made Mike smile in response. “ _ Of course, just go back to the edge and I’ll help you with the rest.”  _

So Mike did. He hopped along the stone right back to the natural edge of the quarry, mostly unaware of the way the stone path crumbled and fell into the water below. When he turned back around, everything was as it was before. He started walking back home where he knew his parents would be making lunch at this point. 

…

Even though everybody had heard their voice relatively young, the youngest of them all was Richie. 

When Richie was three, well, he couldn’t exactly speak the right way. He knew words, small sentences but his lisp made things hard to say. The strange thing about Richie was that he knew words he had never been taught by his parents. Words like, “spirit,” or “ability.” Things that Wentworth and Maggie, his parents, would never say and especially in front of a three year old. 

The even weirder thing about Richie was that he had the most unusual tendency to be wet. As a baby Richie would be found surrounded by a puddle of water, or wake up from a nap soaked to the bone. When he was learning to crawl and walk, Richie couldn’t do it on tile because he always managed to slip on water that seemed to come from nowhere. 

For the first few years of his life, his parents had no reasonable explanation for it. Maggie insisted he just sweated. A lot. Wentworth suggested a leaky roof, but how could he be soaked to the bone even when it hasn’t rained in three weeks? Richie was an unsolved case. The strange unknown “phenomenon” kept them hesitant to send Richie to a daycare or preschool despite how social they knew their son was, especially for a toddler. Maggie convinced most people that there was no point,she was a stay-at-home-mom and Richie was still young .In reality, she couldn’t stand the idea of sending Richie away to people who won’t understand him… even though she didn’t understand either. 

It wasn’t until he was four when all their questions were answered. 

Another quirk of Richie’s, even as a toddler, was that he could never keep a secret. Obviously he wasn’t trusted with big secrets, like what Wentworth bought Maggie for her birthday, but sometimes one of his parents let out a loud “ _ FUCK”  _ from one room and begged Richie to keep it a secret from the other parent. Not because they really wanted it to be, but because they really didn’t want Richie running around the house chirping out “fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” And, well, that never worked. 

Richie was playing in his room that afternoon. Most kids liked to play with actual toys, but Richie liked to play with cups of water. He was the only one who could do it too! He made shapes out of the water, his favorite animal (which changed every week) was a popular choice to play with. Today he made a fox, a playful one (at his spirit’s suggestion) that nipped at Richie’s fingers and ran around his room until Richie decided he wanted to cuddle with it instead. 

As he sat on his bed, stroking his water-fox, he rattled off question after question. 

“Fox bye bye?” Richie whined. 

_ “I’m afraid so, but one day you can keep him by your side.” _ Water answered. 

“But,” Richie sighed, ”I wan’ fox! Can I keeps him?” 

Water sighed,  _ “I’m sorry, Richard, but nobody can know about him- or you. You know that.”  _

“... Not mommy and daddy?” 

_ “Not even them.” _

Richie huffed and crossed his arms. “Mommy and daddy no tell.” He sat up from his bed and grumbled, “mommy and daddy tolds me I can tell them a-anything .” 

_ “Richard, let's just play! Make another animal!”  _ Richie sighed, happy that his spirit’s serious tone was gone and rolled off his bed. 

“I wan’ cracker.” Then Richie padded off to his bedroom door. 

He yanked the heavy door open with all his strength, but he forgot about the fox still running around his room . It let out a loud yip and charged out the door and down the stairs where his parents were watching tv. Richie watched it run down the stairs with wide eyes, ignoring the way Water was screaming in his ear to  _ stop him! Richard, no!  _ But he was paralized. 

He heard a shrill scream come from both his parent’s mouths. That’s when he ran downstairs. 

…

Despite all the spirits being connected and having similar experiences growing up, they didn’t meet until they were freshmen in high school. 

Eddie was homeschooled for a large chunk of his life. He was only allowed to go to school in his last year of middle school, which was probably the most miserable year of his life. Even then, it was a private school. He fought tooth and nail to be allowed into a normal public high school, demanding that his mother gave him a single normal experience. Amazingly, Air didn’t speak once during the fight. Eddie thought that Air would argue against Eddie, considering their belief is that Eddie should be in the forest , perfecting his ability. Eventually, his mother caved, but only because the constant storm patterns scared her into believing that god was angry with her. 

Beverly spent elementary and middle school in an all girl’s school. There, she was heavily bullied. Beverly never really understood why, other than the fact that little girls were the biggest assholes in the world. She was miserable every single day of her life as long as she attended there and went home to her father. It was horrible, she couldn’t handle it anymore. Fueled by Fire’s demands to stick up for herself and the anger of being harassed again and again and again, Beverly burned a girl’s cheek. It wasn’t until after what she had done that she realized she didn’t have a lie that could save her secret from being let out. So, she set the school on fire. Lucky for her, nobody could find the source of the Fire. Nobody was going to believe a group of girls, who were notorious for hating Beverly, that it was her fault. Beverly was moved into Derry’s public high school when school started again. 

Mike was homeschooled until high school. He begged his family to let him have any other sort of experience, just to be around other kids his age- other people! Despite the constant bitching from Earth in his head that  _ this is perfect for you! A young spirit needs the freedom you have.  _ It was annoying, but Mike didn’t let any of it get to him in the end. Eventually, his parents caved and let him do his last piece of school in a public school with all the other kids. 

Then there was Richie. After his parents discovered their son’s unique ability and voice of reason in his head, they had to quickly adapt to accept their son for who he was . They didn’t like the sound of Richie saying that his destiny is to be alone with the water one day- or that’s what Water told him. So Maggie had homeschooled him until middle school. She hated to admit how afraid she was that her son with such a wandering mind would run away with the voice in his head demanding it, or even find out from a teacher that Richie had revealed himself. But she couldn’t contain Richie for long. Richie was allowed to go to a public middle school and high school with the promise that he’d keep his secret safe- no matter how guilty she felt about it. 

It had to happen eventually. The four spirits are expected to work in harmony but from a distance. That’s how they worked for years, knowing of each other’s existence but only ever coming together during an important situation. Unfortunately for the spirits, humans don’t work that way. Meeting each other was all the teenagers could dream of when they learned there were others like them. It was going to happen no matter what. 

It terrified the spirits.

…

It was two weeks into their freshman year and Richie kept noticing things. And, well, it’s hard not to notice when the voice in your head has been particularly anxious about certain people. There were three people he felt drawn to and had been since the year started; a girl with firey hair, a boy with sunflowers stitched into his overalls, and another boy who seemed to wear only loose, nonrestrictive clothes. That last boy also seemed to take all the air out of Richie’s lungs when he first saw him. 

Richie always wrote the feeling off as this natural pull to people. He’s always loved people and attention, this was definitely no different. Three new kids and one was the most beautiful boy he’d ever seen? Try not to feel a pull to that. 

It all came crashing down one day when a real disaster hit Derry. 

…

When Richie walked out of his house that morning, he felt something was wrong with how grey the sky was. Typically, Richie knew when it was going to rain, even days before it was going to happen. The living water (or water he chose not to control) made itself known to Richie and spoke to him in a way about what it will do and when. So, obviously, Richie was very confused to wake up and see how the sky had twisted into something so ugly so fast. 

“What’s going on?” Richie muttered, intending to look like he was talking to himself but knowing it would reach Water. 

_ “Hm,”  _ Water hummed in a nonchalant tone,  _ “I suppose the Air spirit has a little planning going on.”  _

“Excuse me?” Richie squeaked out, “the Air spirit? I thought you said they weren’t active beyond a few storms.” 

Water didn’t reply for a moment, making Richie huff out of frustration. He hated not knowing the other spirits. He tells Water that he wants to work with them for the sake of Derry and all that crap that’s expected of him. It’s believable, but it’s a lie. Richie just wants to finally know the only other people in the whole world that could possibly understand him. He thinks he knows who they are, but his spirit always denied his suspicions and shot down the idea of meeting them. 

Water finally let out a bored sound ,the equivalent of a shrug in Richie’s mind.  _ “We don’t control the Air. If anything, you should take this opportunity to start a rainstorm, those are the best.”  _

Richie could scream in frustration. His spirit was playful and powerful but it had such a stubborn, selfish way of acting. His spirit never liked the way Richie’s outgoing personality attracted so many people to him and distracted him from the mission at hand. 

“I’m not going to use this. We don’t know why this is happening in the first place.” He paused and thought it over. “The air feels anxious to me.” 

_ “Not our problem.”  _

_ It’s never our problem, is it?  _ Richie thought.

He kept walking to school, unable to push his concerns away. He kept them in his head where he knew his spirit couldn’t reach him. It was going to be a long day. 

…

Something was missing from Richie’s routine. Every morning he did relatively the same thing and though he wasn’t attached to that routine, it was strange when it was thrown off. 

It went like this:

First, he walks into school and goes to his locker. Across from him will most likely stand Beverly Marsh, the new girl who supposedly went to the school that burned down. They glance at each other but never say a word.

Next, Richie will walk to his first class and pass the glass doors to the field. Sitting in the grass would be Mike Hanlon, also a new kid. Everyone in town knew he was homeschooled and Richie thinks it shows because of how much time he spends alone in the grass. They also share quick glances but never speak. 

Lastly, Richie will show up to his first class and sit two seats away from Eddie Kaspbrak. Possibly the most beautiful boy he’s ever seen in his life. It took Richie a long time to figure out if his strange pull to Eddie was because he’s unbelievably attractive or if he’s like Mike and Beverly. Turns out it’s both. Eddie is always in class early and reading a book. He’ll sneak a glance at Richie, that Richie seriously hopes he doesn’t believe is subtle, and reads his book. Eddie smiles at him. 

  
  


When he walked in that morning, Eddie wasn’t sitting two seats away with a book. He wasn’t even there yet. Richie was so shocked to see it, he rubbed his eyes as if he was seeing things. But he wasn’t, unfortunately. 

Eddie Kaspbrak, for the first time in the entire school year, wasn’t at school. 

Pretending not to be bummed out, Richie plastered on a fake smile and sat next to Stan, his best friend. 

“Staniel-“

“No.”

Richie blinked. 

“Stanny-“ 

“Nope.”

Richie groaned. 

“Stan!”

“Richard.” 

Stan was reading a book, probably one that could never keep Richie’s attention, possibly about birds. It definitely meant that Stan wasn’t going to spare any attention. 

“Stan, please! I need love! Affection! Passionate-“

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Stan said through a groan and slotted a bookmark on his page. “Just because a certain brunette isn’t here for you to drool over doesn’t mean you can interrupt my reading.” 

“I’ll dye your hair brown and make you eat your words!” 

“I’ll shove the hair dye up your ass.”

“Oh, well I’m not particularly into that… but for you-“

“Jesus fucking Christ, Richie.” 

With that, Richie knew he lost Stan. He opened his book back up and continued reading, leaving Richie with nothing but his thoughts. 

Richie checked his watch and sighed. It was time for school to actually start and Eddie still hadn’t walked in. His teacher walked in shortly after that and that’s when Richie decided that he was going to ditch his next period and probably the one after that. He had no reason or motivation to stay in class anymore.

Besides, he could shut his spirit up and get something in by using the storm.

…

When class was over, Richie was the first one up and out of his seat. Usually he liked to stay back and wait, never liking the crowds and always looking forward to seeing Eddie sneak a glance in his direction. Not really caring anymore, or at least for the day, he left the room and made a beeline towards the exit that leads to the field. He hasn’t skipped school in a long time, but he used to, and he knew the best way out where no teacher could possibly catch him. 

Out the back exit, through the field, behind the bleachers and over the fence. No teacher ever watched that specific route. Richie tends to use it to his full advantage. 

Today he is especially lucky, the wind was picking up in a harsh manner that made even Richie’s spirit shudder. Absolutely nobody was outside, only Richie, who was pretty well adjusted to heavy winds whenever he had to start a storm. Briefly, Richie wondered if this could be Eddie. He had always wondered who could be a spirit but never got definite confirmation. He supposed that it could just be a strange coincidence, so he tried not to dwell on it. If Eddie was a spirit, then his own spirit should’ve told him, considering they’d be working so close together. 

But… his spirit refuses to tell him anything. 

_ “Richard, if you’re not going to use the storm can we at least go to the quarry? When’s the last time you actually played with the water?” _

“Last time I washed my hands,” Richie mumbled. “Besides, there’s a lightning storm about to start. Even you can’t survive lightning.”

The spirit didn’t say anything after that. Richie kept his mind on his destination until a huge, golden leaf slapped him square in the face. He stumbled back with a gasp and wiped it off of him. The leaf wasn’t special in any way, but it had hit him so hard he did a double take.

With almost as much force as the leaf, Richie realized that the trees were being pulled with such incredible force he thought they might rip out of the ground. The leaf that smacked him was one of many being pulled in a circular motion right behind him. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Richie asked. 

He could feel Water suddenly tense up. He felt even more scared by that- his spirit was never tense. 

_ “Richard, we need to go. Now.”  _ They demanded.

“What is going on!?” Richie demanded again, his eyes widening as he watched the sky be pulled into a spiral. 

_ “Richard! Run!”  _

Richie’s mouth ran dry when he realized what he was seeing. He started running in the opposite direction, almost tripping over his own feet, desperate to get away.

It was a fucking tornado. 

His feet pounded loudly against the concrete but another noise made him freeze.

_ Stop! Fucking stop! Why can’t I stop!? _

Richie came to a halt and turned around. The force of the wind threatened to pull him in but he held his ground and watched the direction the tornado was going.

“Water, what was that noise?” He whispered, hoping he spoke just loud enough for the spirit to hear.

“ _ Are you crazy!? Why’d you stop!?” _

“There was a voice!” He gasped for air, “what was it!?” 

Water didn’t respond for a moment. The heavy silence told Richie everything he needed to know. Water knew exactly what the voice was and didn’t want Richie to know. That must mean it’s a spirit.

“It’s the Air spirit,” Richie concluded. Without giving it a second thought, Richie ran straight towards the tornado. 

_ “What are you doing!? You’ll get hurt! You can’t be around the Air spirit!”  _

Richie ignored the voice in his head and kept running. He knew he was being crazy. He didn’t know who the air spirit was and his spirit was adamant on him never finding out, but he couldn’t ignore that voice, it was clearly scared and anxious. Combine that with one of the most powerful abilities on earth, and a lot of people could get hurt. Richie couldn’t let that happen. Not if he had a chance at stopping it. 

He ended up in the center of town. The tornado hadn’t hit any buildings yet, but it knocked down a tree or two. He figured he was going the right way because he was being pulled in by the wind. It was such a strong pull, Richie was certain he couldn’t get away if he tried. 

As he got closer, he realized the pull was coming from inside the town. 

He was scared. Truth be told, he wasn’t even sure if he could die, and he’s always been too afraid to ask Water. It may be good information to know, but his spirit definitely wouldn’t answer him now. Fear be damned, he was going in. 

Almost immediately, it was clear that the source of the element was coming from an alleyway behind the local pharmacy. Richie knew the place pretty well, he often stopped there for a quick smoke. Tripping over his own feet trying to get there, the force pulled him in faster than he could handle. At some point he fell down, catching himself on his hands and scraping them up but he barely noticed. 

Finally, he made his way around the corner and saw nothing but red bricks and two trash bins opposite of each other. Richie assumed that whoever the spirit is has to be hiding behind one of the bins. Shockingly, there are two other people making their way towards him. Fiery red hair and daisy sewn overalls coming his way. He recognized them immediately.

“Beverly, Mike…” Richie whispered out loud, letting the pieces fall into place. “They’re spirits too.” 

A look of recognition and relief passed over the other two teenager’s faces as they took in Richie, who was now struggling against being pulled in by the air. When they finally caught up to Richie, they were all speechless. It made sense and confused them at the same time, leaving them with no words. 

Then Mike spoke, “we can talk about this later,” they nodded, “but we have to stop this first.”

With another nod, they started running towards the nearest trash bin and looked beside them. Richie quickly glanced behind one on the left but didn’t pay it much attention as he was being pulled to the right. Beverly and Mike stood to the side, letting out soft gasps when they saw who was causing all the chaos. 

Richie stumbled beside Beverly and let out the biggest gasp of them all. 

On the floor was a sobbing boy with his head resting on his knees, hands pulling at his pretty brown hair. The pretty brown hair Richie had imagined running his hands through countless times before. The boy who practically owned his heart. 

“Eddie!?” Richie squawked out, completely startling the smaller boy.

Eddie snapped his head up immediately. His red eyes widened as he took in the three people in front of him. The tension in the air snapped like a wire and everything stopped. The sudden release on the spirits caused them to stumble and fall to the ground. Richie could hear the sound of the objects swept up in the tornado hitting the pavement behind him, it made Eddie flinch but he didn’t take his eyes off the taller boy. 

“Richie?” Eddie whispered. He lowered his hands from his head and wiped his tears away.

Richie’s face split into an overjoyed grin. He was getting everything he ever wanted in a matter of seconds. He’s met the three other spirits- the three people he’s been dying to meet his whole life- and one of them was the boy he was undeniably crushing on. The boy he was spiritually connected with. 

“Hi, Eds.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh!! I’ve been working on this all year!! I’m so excited to post it!! Please consider leaving some comments 🥺


End file.
